Government

Councillor George Departs For Commonwealth Conference

On Wednesday 21 August, Councillor Cyril George will depart for the 59thCommonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Conference in Johannesburg, scheduled to take place between 28 August and 6 September.

Cyril George

Cyril is the first Councillor from the newly elected Council to attend a CPA Conference – aiming to develop effective solutions to Commonwealth development challenges.

The plenary sessions include members discussing Separation of Powers and Good Governance in Small States and whether Education is Meeting Local Employment Needs in Small States.

Workshops held will include topics such as:

Land Access and Ownership, Progress and Challenges Experienced by Rural Communities in Accessing Land. What could be the Role and Intervention of Parliamentarians?

Should there be Parliamentary Intervention in the Informal Economy and Entrepreneurship Sectors?

The Challenges of Attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015; and

Inequitable Resource-Sharing: A Threat to Democratic Governance

Commenting on the conference, Cyril said:

“I am looking forward to this interesting but new challenge, and although this is something that I am not familiar with I am grateful for the opportunity to take on this experience to contribute and learn from it.

We were all informed initially that as Councillors we would get opportunities to attend meetings in other Countries. When the CPA team arrived on Tuesday 30 July they informed us that the next meeting would be held in Johannesburg. The selection process began, will all interested Councillors putting their names forward. A draw took place and the first name picked was mine.”

The conference will close on 5 September, beginning with a General Assembly and receiving of plaques, followed by the final plenary session with the Parliamentary Response to the Commonwealth Charter.